Could there be two stories more different than each other in the Gospels? The first story is about a celebration, and Jesus keeps the party going. The other story is about the holiest place on the planet, and Jesus makes a scene and ends the celebration (during one of the biggest holidays of the year, no less).
I think these stories are next to each other for a very specific reason, and it has to do with what Jesus cares about. Jesus loves people- and not a wishy-washy Valentine's Day card kind of love, more of a radical, dangerous, get-myself-in-trouble kind of love. At the party in Cana, the hosts of the wedding feast were about to be shamed by not having enough wine for the party. Jesus guards them from that shame, much like God guarded Adam and Eve from shame by giving them animal skin clothes to wear. At the Passover celebration in Jerusalem, shame was in full force and people were being kept from worship by the moneychangers and those selling animals. And so Jesus protected the people once again from the shameful acts of the worship-profit crowd.
Jesus even begins to talk about the greatest party of them all in this passage- the resurrection. In the resurrection, there is no shame or condemnation or decay. There is only life. And this life is worth celebrating, even though the resurrection is still a future event for us. There is much new life that is already taking place within us.
Most people love a celebration, I don't know too many people who don't enjoy a good party. But sometimes we celebrate things that are life-giving, and sometimes we celebrate things that are life-stealing. Jesus met those kinds of parties differently, and I hope that we can too.
How can you celebrate life today?
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